Private Sector Workforce Grows by 6.7% Y/Y in Q2

The total number of employed in Bulgaria aged 15 or older stood at 3.372 million in the second quarter of 2008, accounting for 51.0% of the population in the same age. The number of males amounted to 1.794 million, accounting for 53.2% of all employed, while the number of females stood at 1.577 million.

A total of 2.158 million employed, accounting for 73.3% of the total, worked in the private sector in the second quarter of 2008. The share of the private sector employees has risen by 6.7% compared to the second quarter of 2007. The share of women employed in the private and the public sector stood at 45.1% and 56.7%, respectively.

The number of employees in the services sector stood at 1.863 mln or 55.2% of the total. A total of 1.237 million, or 36.7% of the total were employed in the industry, while the number of employees in agriculture and forestry amounted to 271,400, or 8.0% of the total. A total of 64.5% of the women were employed in the services sector, followed by industry (29.2%) and agriculture and forestry (6.3%). The number of employees working part-time stood at 151,500 making for 2.4% of the total.

The number of unemployed totaled 207,200 in the second quarter of 2008, while the unemployment rate stood at 5.8%. The unemployment rate among females and males stood at 6.0% and 5.6%, respectively. The unemployment rate in the rural areas remains considerably higher compared to the cities - 9.6 and 4.6%, respectively. The number of unemployed went down by 30,000 in the second quarter of 2008, compared to the year-ago period, while the unemployment rate dropped by 1.0 base points.

The number of unemployed aged 15 to 24 amounted to 40,000. The youth unemployment rate stood at 13.1%, with the rate among males going slightly up compared to the second quarter of 2007.

The number of long-term unemployed stood at 105,000, or 50.7% of the total. The number went down by 22.9% compared to the second quarter of 2007. The long-term unemployment rate stood at 3.0%.

A total of 47,000, or 22.7% of all unemployed are seeking for their first job.